Snacking – Good or Bad?
Everyone snacks, but does snacking help us to reach our fitness, nutrition and weight loss goals?
For our purposes, snacking can be defined as eating or drinking outside of our regular meal schedule. We snack because we are hungry, bored, anxious, stressed, or because there
is food available or out of habit.
Many fitness experts even recommend snacking throughout the day to boost your metabolism and keep your body burning calories at a higher rate than normal. Unfortunately, the evidence does not support this type of snacking. How often we eat actually has little to do with how fast our body burns calories.
Is Snacking good for Weight Loss?
The evidence on weight loss and appetite control is mixed
and the response seems to vary by individual. Some people feel more full after snacking and eat fewer calories as a result, while others actually eat more calories when snacking.
Snacking can affect our blood sugar levels. Eating high protein or high fiber snacks can provide more even energy levels and keep our blood sugar from spiking and dropping rapidly.
Eating a healthy snack can help us from becoming extremely hungry and overeating or making poor food
choices.
Snacking is really a personal choice, but if you decide to snack choose healthy options that are in line with your goals.
Snacking Guidelines
- Snack only when you are a little bit hungry.
- Choose snacks of 150 to 250 calories that are high in protein and fiber.
- Snack mindfully. Focus on the food you are eating.
- Keep healthy snacks on hand.
- Pick snacks that are portable that you can take
with you.
- Avoid high-processed sugar foods that can leave you craving extra calories.
Controlling Cravings
There are times when we just crave something sweet or salty to eat. Stress and fatigue are two big culprits that leads us to craving and unwanted calories or worse, binge eating.
Try these techniques to curb your cravings:
- Get more sleep
- Take a
walk
- Reach for a book or listen to your favorite music to relax before reaching for the cookies or ice-cream.
- Change your environment. Keep food in an inconvenient place so you have to work to get your “food fix”.
If you decide to snack, here are a few healthy snack ideas:
- String cheese and fresh vegetable slices
- Sunflower seeds, nuts and an apple
- Cottage cheese with fruit
- Cherry or grape
tomatoes with low-fat or fat-free cheese
- Plain, low-fat or fat-free yogurt and fresh or frozen fruit
- Unsalted almonds, walnuts and other nuts
The Challenge
Choose one of these snack challenges for the Month of May:
Add a healthy post-workout snack that includes protein and a complex carbohydrate.
Eliminate late night snacking
Substitute a high fiber, high protein snack
for your usual sweet or salty mid-day or evening snack.
Let us know how you are doing.
